Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 16 CPI(M) leaders on Friday criticised Chief Minister V D Satheesan and the UDF government’s decision to restructure the KIIFB.
Satheesan on Thursday said an expert panel headed by Sudha Pillai, which reviewed Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) set up by the previous LDF government, had flagged serious financial irregularities, violations of rules and huge financial liabilities.
Describing KIIFB as a “separate empire”, the chief minister said the government would examine the findings of the panel’s report and decide on further action.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Pinarayi Vijayan, on Friday accused the UDF government of supporting the Centre’s agenda to dismantle the KIIFB, describing the committee report on the institution as a “declaration of war against Keralam.”
In a Facebook post, Vijayan criticised the Sudha Pillai committee report, which reviewed KIIFB.
The LDF government had used KIIFB to accelerate infrastructure development that would otherwise have taken 25 to 50 years to complete, he said.
“Those who once ridiculed KIIFB when it was revived are now blinded by its extraordinary success and trying to strangle it to death,” Vijayan said, adding that dismantling the institution would be an injustice to present and future generations.
He said KIIFB had approved projects worth nearly Rs 1 lakh crore by securitising future revenues, with infrastructure works worth Rs 40,000 crore, including schools, hospitals and bridges, already completed.
The off-budget resource mobilisation had changed the face of Keralam and also enabled the government to allocate more funds through the budget for health, education and welfare programmes, he said.
Vijayan accused the committee and the UDF government of adopting what he described as the Centre’s flawed argument that KIIFB was investing in projects that were not profitable.
“This is the neoliberal economic logic that considers investment in social sectors such as education, healthcare and housing as ‘unprofitable’,” he said.
He also cited KIIFB’s role in major projects such as the Kochi Water Metro, TransGrid, K-FON, Life Science Park and Kochi Petrochemical Park, as well as rehabilitation efforts in Chooralmala and Mundakkai.
The institution had also provided Rs 6,000 crore as Keralam’s 25 per cent contribution towards national highway development, which Vijayan said should have been fully funded by the Centre.
He alleged that the UDF government was surrendering to the Centre and sacrificing the state’s interests when the question of whether KIIFB loans should be counted towards the state’s public debt limit under Article 293(3) of the Constitution was pending before a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court.
Vijayan also questioned what alternative the UDF government had to replace KIIFB’s role in capital investment and asked UDF MLAs to explain how development projects in their constituencies would be implemented without it.
“Keralam will unitedly resist the UDF government’s political decision to destroy KIIFB,” he said.
CPI(M) MLA and former finance minister K N Balagopal told reporters that KIIFB played a crucial role in infrastructure development in the state.
“What are they saying? KIIFB should only take up profitable projects. That means they cannot make a profit by constructing hospitals and schools,” he said.
Balagopal said the previous LDF government’s budget had allocated Rs 5,200 crore for works on the MC Road under KIIFB.
“The move means that such development works will not be carried out,” he said.
He said there was no objection to examining the legal aspects of KIIFB’s functioning.
“Let there be no situation like losing a baby after bathing it frequently,” he said.
Balagopal also expressed concern over whether projects implemented through KIIFB would be handed over to private companies.
“How will these matters move forward now? Will this entire thing be given to the private sector? Or will the public sector be strengthened? They need to speak about these matters,” he said.
Satheesan had also alleged that KIIFB projects were unevenly distributed, with a majority concentrated in a few districts, including Kannur.
CPI(M) Kannur district secretary K K Ragesh criticised Satheesan for the remarks.
“Can someone sitting in the chief minister’s chair make such a reaction just to create a narrow regional sentiment,” he asked.
“What wrong did Kannur district do? Is it wrong for Kannur district to find a place on the industrial development map of the state? How narrow is the chief minister of Keralam thinking,” Ragesh told reporters.
He said Kannur was not the district that received the highest allocation of funds, claiming that other districts have received more.
(PTI News)
